Gems of Wisdom for God's Broken Vessels on life issues, inspirational book reviews, and the occasional Montana feature. www.AngelaBreidenbach.com

Monday, August 30, 2010

Operation Beautiful by Caitlin Boyle

Leave an uplifting and encouraging note to another woman. Sometimes the simplest things are the most poignant and effective. Caitlin's book describes not only the many ways and types of notes, but the changes they've made around the world in other people's lives.

I love the concept of realizing our uniqueness is beautiful! The most significant thing about this book is about how Caitlin took her own difficulties and overflowed her gems of wisdom out onto others. Each time we battle harsh reality, we have the opportunity to reach out and help someone else win that battle. Exactly what I write and teach about--use the things you learn to help others. Our value is not in what we look like and our value does not depend on someone else's choices or opinions.

My favorite section of her book is Shut Out Energy Vampires. It's in pages 90-91. I think the most helpful notation is how the "Energy Vampires feed off your reaction to their Negative Noise, so ignore the behavior as much as possible." She teaches through ideas how to cope with these difficult people in our lives. I heartily agree. Energy Vampires are all about being negative, sucking your positive energy, and controlling those around them. Enjoy detaching from these vamps. It's a whole new sense of freedom :-)

Operation Beautiful is a lovely focus on empowering women to be who they are not what someone else wants them to be. She challenges women to take their eyes off of a specific body part and reach outside of themselves to create joy and contribution. I think we've gotten so caught up in the objectification of women that we don't realize we objectify ourselves when we take our bodies apart in front of the mirror. We buy into the same practice that we condemn in the media and porn businesses by putting the camera of our own mind on one piece of our body.

Our lives aren't about a number, a "look", or what other people think. We were created unique and beautiful to bring glory to God. He created a special body, a special set of gifts, and a special purpose just for you. When our eyes are so focused on a chubby thigh or a stretch mark, we don't recognize the amazing gift in the body God has created just for us. We forget to go after the dreams placed inside us because we're too busy listening to the Negative Noise around us.

Should we worry about our weight? No. Should we take care of the body we have so we can contribute good into the world around us? Absolutely.

Go and act. Be the beautiful person God created uniquely for your place in the world. Don't try to take someone else's place. There's a reason you are made just so. You have a dream that belongs only to you. How can you achieve it if you are racing after someone else's dream? Be beautifully and uniquely you.